Google Internet raid began in China

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 20 (UPI) -- An instant message sent to a Google employee in China using Microsoft's Messenger program was the start of an Internet raid against Google, an insider says.

A person with knowledge of last December's intrusion told The New York Times on condition of anonymity losses in the theft involved a password system that controls access by millions of users worldwide.

The system allows users and employees to sign in with their password just once to operate a range of services, The Times reported Tuesday.

Intruders gained access to it by getting a Google employee to click on a link in an instant message that connected to a "poisoned" Web site.

After achieving access to the employee's personal computer, the intruders moved into the computers of a critical group of software developers at Google's California headquarters.

Independent computer experts told the Times there is a faint possibility the thieves might have found weaknesses of which even Google is unaware.